TRENTONIAN PERSON OF THE YEAR: Christie was everywhere in 2013, except Trenton

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie smiles, in Trenton, N.J., as he says that the news conference would most likely be his last news conference until after the holidays, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2013. Christie announced he would sign a bill extending eligibility for in-state tuition rates to residents brought into the country illegally as children if the legislature drops a provision allowing the students to apply for financial aid. Christie says anyone who thought he wasn't serious about easing college tuition costs for students in the U.S. illegally owes him an apology. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)

He was on Saturday Night Live, he did the voiceover for WrestleMania’s opening, he was kissing babies all over the state in his re-election campaign while finding time to stump for his pal in New Mexico, and he was everywhere from the Shore to Pinelands.

Well, almost everywhere.

Christie wouldn’t go to Trenton High, or moreover anywhere else in the city unless it was to sign a bill or hold a presser at the Statehouse.

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But his many actions – and some inaction, too – made him The Trentonian’s Person of the Year for 2013.

It is important to remember that the person of the year, much like the Time magazine version this is based on, does not necessarily have to be a good or bad person, just someone who made an impact on our lives. The person of the year was chosen through balloting across our entire news staff.

Christie was good and bad throughout the year, depending on your political leanings and personal causes. But we can all likely agree that Christie mostly abandoned the capital city he is supposed to inhabit as a prerequisite of his occupation.

Christie directly said he won’t deal with Mayor Tony F. Mack, who faces corruption charges in court in a mere week and a half. As long as Mack is here, Christie will continue to turn a blind eye to the city and its needs, whether it’s the rotting high school or the short-handed police force.

As for his dealings as our governor, he was all over the map. He fought a long, but half-hearted, battle against gay marriage in the Garden State before relenting to inevitable defeat.

He pushed for internet gambling and sports gambling, and he got half of what he wanted. Christie still claims he will keep fighting for sports gambling, even though his odds of covering the spread aren’t looking good. There is no evidence that the U.S. Supreme Court will give him a different ruling even if the panel agrees to hear the case, and even Christie quipped earlier this year that there is no “galactic court” he can appeal to from there.

Christie won a landslide campaign for re-election over challenger Barbara Buono, even though Buono tried to popularize the notion that the governor wasn’t really running for the office he has held for four years. Buono set up the race as a preliminary bout on the way to the 2016 Republican presidential primary, and there is nothing to suggest that she is wrong about that.

But that didn’t stop the Christie political machine, which lauded that fact that the governor won re-election with 60-plus percent of the vote in a blue state as a sign that he could cross over nationally and become the most powerful man in the world.

As we pointed out the day of his victory on a cover that went viral across the country, Christie is likely with us for just two more years. What he does with that time that actually impacts New Jerseyans remains to be seen.

Will he finally do something with the city of Trenton once Mack’s situation is resolved at the end of January? One way or the other, he’ll have to or things will continue to worsen in a city that desperately needs guidance and leadership.

If Mack is convicted, new leadership will emerge and hopefully make a connection with a man who could be our next president to get what help we can before he is off to Washington.

If he is found not guilty, the two most powerful men in Trenton will have to find a way to co-exist and work together, especially if Mack goes for (gulp) re-election himself, which he has already shown signs of doing.

Either way, 2013 was a big year for Christie, but it will only get bigger from here. The question is whether he will throw any of us in New Jersey a bone on the way up.

— Matthew Osborne is the editor of The Trentonian. He can be reached at 609-989-7800, ext. 201, or mosborne@trentonian.com. Follow him on Twitter @trentonianozzy.

About the Author

Matthew Osborne is the editor-in-chief of The Trentonian, where he was the sports editor from 2007-2012. He writes a Heisman Trophy column for Digital First Media and is a voter for the award. Reach the author at mosborne@trentonian.com
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